Health and Care Bill given Royal Assent and becomes law

  • 28 April 2022
Health and Care Bill given Royal Assent and becomes law

The Health and Care Bill has become law and includes measures which are targeted at supporting data sharing between health and social care.

The bill, which received Royal Assent on April 28, has been backed by £36billion over the next three years through the Health and Care Levy.

Part of the bill includes addressing ā€œthe barriers to joined up working, by supporting data sharing between health and social careā€.

Another measure included is for every part of England will be covered by an Integrated Care System (ICS) and to give these organisations statutory footing from 1 July 2022. ICSs have been established with the aim to coordinate services and to plan in a way that improves population health and reduces inequalities between different groups.

The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Sajid Javid, said: ā€œThe Health and Care Act is the most significant change to the healthcare system in a decade and will put it in the strongest possible position to rebuild from the pandemic, backed by our record funding.

ā€œThese measures have broad support and will harness the best ways of working to ensure people are receiving high quality, joined up care.ā€

The Health and Care Act builds on the proposals for legislative change set out by NHS England in its Long Term Plan, while also incorporating valuable lessons learnt from the pandemic to benefit both staff and patients.

Amanda Pritchard, NHS chief executive said: Ā ā€œThe Covid pandemic has shown what can be achieved when we work together across NHS teams, organisations and systems with our partners in the care sector and beyond, and these reforms will help us to deliver for patients and their families.

ā€œAs the NHS works flat out to recover services and address the Covid-19 backlogs that have inevitably built up during the pandemic, these reforms will accelerate the changes set out in the NHS Long Term Plan that are already giving people greater choice, better support and more joined up care when they need it.ā€

Subscribe to our newsletter

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Sign up

Related News

New feeds allow Welsh health boards to send data to DHCW

New feeds allow Welsh health boards to send data to DHCW

Four national data feeds have gone live in Wales through the National Data and Analytics Platform (NDAP) to connect data across services.
OneLondon’s UCP reaches 74% of capital’s sickle cell patients

OneLondon’s UCP reaches 74% of capital’s sickle cell patients

Almost three-quarters of sickle cell patients who receive care in London now have a Universal Care Plan, according to OneLondon.
PocDoc and Patients Know Best announce partnership

PocDoc and Patients Know Best announce partnership

A partnership between PocDoc and Patient’s Know Best is allowing patients to easily access and share their screening results.